New LED light installed at Hiiumaa's Kõpu Lighthouse
A new unique €85,000 LED light has been installed in Hiiumaa's Kõpu Lighthouse. The upgrade was part of plan which put LED lights into all of Estonia's lighthouses and has now been completed.
The new light is now in the testing phase and next week should be working at full capacity and has the same rotating-beam as Kõpu has had for the past 160 years.
At full power, the light is the most luminous of the Baltic Sea lighthouses. One of the reasons why the lighthouse has only just been upgraded is because the technology was not powerful enough before.
As the light is unique, and the new system was tailor-made, with all the backup systems and software, it cost €85,000 excluding VAT. The light was built by Sabik Limited.
Andry Rütkinen, Head of Navigation Marking at the Maritime Administration, tolf Aktuaalne Kaamera the old light was starting to malfunction on a regular basis.
"If we bring the point of reference that we all had our own incandescent bulbs a few years ago, and now put 21,000 hundred-watt incandescent bulbs in one room, it gives about the same luminous intensity as one of the Kõpu's LEDs," said Rütkinen.
Kõpu Lighthouse is one of the oldest lighthouse in the Baltic Sea region and is amost 500 years old. It is the tallest lighthouse in the region and was built at 67 metres above sea level at the highest point on Hiiumaa. It stands 36 metres above the ground, and its light shines out at 102.6 metres above sea level.
It was built when landmarks were needed to guide ships during the days of the Hanseatic League. The most important east-west trade route in Northern Europe passed the island of Hiiumaa and merchants complained of ships being lost on the Baltic Sea. It is the oldest continuously used lighthouse on the Baltic Sea.
You can watch the Aktuaalne kaamera broadcast here.
--
Download the ERR News app for Android and iOS now and never miss an update!
Editor: Helen Wright